Sheepdrove Organic Farm, Berkshire
High on the Berkshire Downs, Sheepdrove Organic Farm is a mixed 810-hectare farm with sheep, beef, pigs, poultry and arable crops. Peter and Juliet Kindersley’s long-term vision is for a farm that is self-sustaining: protecting the environment, allowing animals to express their natural behaviour, and investing in its people. Sheepdrove is well known for its UK-wide home delivery meat boxes but also supplies wholesale and to supermarkets.
Livestock and crops
Sheepdrove has a flock of nearly 2000 ewes, a herd of 80 sows and 180 beef suckler cows. The farm has a pioneering free range organic poultry unit that rears chickens and Christmas turkeys. Herbs like yarrow, chicory and bird’s–foot trefoil in the grass leys and special herb plots help to keep the animals healthy. Spring is the time to see the lambs and calves, and there are pigs to be seen from the drive. Sheepdrove’s organic system is based on a rotation between the fertility-building clover leys and the arable crops, which include wheat, barley, beans and some special crops such as borage.
Conservation
Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, Little Owl and Kestrel all breed on the farm. Visitors can hear Skylark, Lapwing and Corn Bunting in spring and often spot Red Kite. More than 95 species of birds and over 21 species of butterflies are found. Brown Hare, Roe Deer and Badgers are just some of the mammal wildlife at Sheepdrove. Ancient woodland is coppiced, and much new hedgerow and woodland has been planted. Nearly 150 hectares are dedicated to various conservation measures under ‘stewardship.’ Our open access ‘Hundred Acre Field’ is a fine example of this, where flower-rich chalk grassland has been restored on former arable land.
Composting
Sheepdrove has an innovative composting scheme, recycling green waste, horse bedding, farm manures and coffee waste, to create a valuable soil conditioner. Spread on the fields, it boosts soil life, closes the nutrient cycle, reduces waste disposal and helps reduce soil erosion.
Reedbed system
A unique Reedbed System treats Sheepdrove’s waste water through ecology, in a series of aquatic habitats which purify it before the water returns to its source deep in the chalk, the same aquifer Sheepdrove’s water comes from.
The Kindersley Centre
The state-of-the-art Kindersley Centre at Sheepdrove is available for conferences, meetings and seminars. This sustainable building is equipped with the latest audio-visual equipment and full organic catering facilities. T:01488 674737,
www.thekindersleycentre.com Arranging a visit
Please note that Sheepdrove do not have a farm shop, but you can collect meat boxes here if ordered well in advance. A number of Open Days are organised throughout the year. Guided group tours are available by prior arrangement only. The ‘sheepdroves’ are ancient, wide byways criss-crossing the downland landscape, Public Rights of Way from which you can see the whole farm.
How to get there  Â
By road: Sheepdrove Organic Farm is just north of the village of Lambourn. From the crossroads by the church travel north, turning right up Sheepdrove Road. Follow signs to Sheepdrove Organic Farm and Warren Farm (about two miles from the village centre).  Â
By bike: Find your route on the
Sustrans website        Â
Contact details  Â